Chapter 14 - The Name on the Account
"I didn't create that company," Evelyn said.
Agent Carson believed her.
They spent the next morning in a federal conference room while Carson's financial team pulled records from three jurisdictions.
"E.V. Holdings was incorporated in Delaware three days before Daniel Vale died."
Evelyn folded her arms. "By who?"
"The registered organizer was Leonard Shaw."
Laura leaned forward. "So he used her initials."
"Looks that way."
"Why?"
Carson gave her a tired look. "Because if anyone found the transaction, suspicion would fall exactly where it fell."
"I've been carrying that night for a year, and he built me into the crime before I even knew there was one."
"That's what Leonard does."
Carson tapped the paper.
"There's more. E.V. Holdings wired funds to five accounts over the next eighteen months. Four are empty."
"And the fifth?" Mark asked.
"Still active."
"How much?"
"One point three million."
Laura narrowed her eyes. "Where?"
"A private bank in the Cayman Islands. We can freeze it, but we need the final authorization chain."
Mark looked at Anna. "Daniel's confession names Leonard."
"It may not be enough for the bank," Carson said.
"What is enough?"
"The original transaction ledger."
Laura laughed bitterly. "The one with every page cut out?"
"Not every page."
"Daniel made carbon copies."
"Where?" Laura demanded.
Richard smiled without humor. "Ask your mother why she spent three hundred thousand dollars renovating a guest cottage nobody uses."
They drove back to the estate under federal escort.
The guest cottage sat beyond the tennis court, a quiet stone building Eleanor had remodeled six years earlier. Laura had always thought the project was one more example of her mother's need to control things no one cared about.
Richard went straight to the fireplace and removed the brass screen.
Inside the cavity sat a document tube.
Empty.
Eleanor stared. "No."
Mark asked, "Who knew about this hiding place?"
"Daniel. Me. Leonard."
"Anyone else?"
Eleanor's gaze drifted toward the doorway. A floorboard creaked upstairs. Carson drew his weapon.
"FBI! Come down with your hands visible."
Silence.
Leonard dropped from the balcony onto the lawn.
His left shoulder was bandaged. In his right hand he carried the missing tube contents.
He sprinted toward a waiting car.
May you like
Laura took off after him.
The House That Lied
